Death of deportee on plane probed
Unnamed man under escort of border officers
CALGARY • Police are in the early stages of what they say is a unique investigation into the in-custody death of a man being deported from Canada.
The man, who has not yet been identified, was being escorted by two Canada Border Services Agency officers on a KLM flight from Calgary to Amsterdam on Tuesday when there was an altercation on-board.
The flight was on its way to take off, but was forced to return to the gate. When airport officers boarded the plane, they found the 49-year-old male in medical distress. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead approximately an hour and a half later.
Although police declined to reveal the man’s nationality, “We know he had been in Calgary for a significant period of time. We know he had been here for at least years,” said Staff-sgt. Colin Chisholm of the homicide unit.
Chisholm could not comment on why the man was being deported, but said he was not known to Calgary police.
It was around 3 p.m. when officers responded to emergency aboard the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ plane that had returned to the gate. Police said the two border services officers were also taken to hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.
Although an autopsy was completed Wednesday, the results were inconclusive, investigators said.
“The medical examiner’s office is waiting for further testing to come back,” said Chisholm. “The time frame is going to be months down the road before we can say the investigation is completed. We are going to wait for the official autopsy to come back.”
He said the man’s name would not be released until his family had been informed of his death.
“We are in the process of talking to the authorities in the (man’s) home country to arrange next of kin to be notified.”
Chisholm said that based on what is known so far, he did not anticipate charges being laid, but added that investigators were still speaking with witnesses to determine exactly what occurred before the man went into medical distress.
The fact that many of those witnesses are now in the Netherlands has complicated the investigation, which could take up to six months to be completed.
“The airplane turned around and left,” Chisholm said. “Obviously, some of the witnesses were still on the flight so we didn’t have a firsthand opportunity to interview those witnesses right away. That creates a challenge for us.”
Authorities in the Netherlands are working with Calgary police to carry out the necessary interviews.
It is hoped that those who were sitting near the man can provide police with details of what occurred. “It’s a traumatic event and people would be troubled by someone going into medical distress in front of them,” noted Chisholm.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told the Toronto Star he could not speak to details about the situation because it is being investigated by police.
“Until they determine the facts of exactly what happened and why, no further comment can be made other than to say any loss of life is a great tragedy and serious incident of this kind must be treated with the gravity and care that it deserves,” Goodale said in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
“I have every confidence that the Calgary Police Service will get to the bottom of the situation and determine factually what happened,” he told the Star.
CBSA will be conducting an internal examination, Goodale said.
The in-custody death was confirmed by CBSA regional director Nina Patel, who said only that an altercation had occurred between the man and two border services officers before the plane took off, and that the agency would be co-operating with Calgary police in the investigation.
THE AIRPLANE TURNED AROUND AND LEFT ... SOME OF THE WITNESSES WERE STILL ON THE FLIGHT.